Leaving home for Lagos during civil war, one of the risks I took in early life —Oba Oyeyemi

In 1968 when the civil war was raging profusely in Nigeria, there was no doubting the fact that Adekunle Oyeyemi was fed up with one-way life he was living on the farm in Oba-Ile, his home town under the guidance of his parents. He was already 19 years and knocking the door of 20.

Yet, he was living a life without a direction, having absolutely nothing to show for his adulthood except a primary school leaving certificate. After he had ruminated on a way out of the overwhelming boredom, he went to his father and bore his mind, unmindful of his father’s likely rebuff or punishment.

However, he met what he did not imagine after his father had patiently listened to him. Pa Alimi Oyeyemi rose from his seat and shocked Adekunle with a nod to his request to travel to Lagos to live with one of his brothers. “I just could not believe my ears when my father said ‘Yes’. From then I became ecstatic and a bit feverish. I was not nervous; I was rather excited praying that my father would not have any cause to change his mind. And he did not change his mind. That was the beginning of my journey to the world. I never travelled beyond my vicinity talk less of going to Ibadan or Lagos,” he reminisced.

Preparation for the trip started in earnest as Adekunle got himself a portmanteau in which he packed all his clothes.  He did not miss the only vehicle which was shuttling between Oba-Ile and Osogbo. He arrived at the departure spot on time and made the journey to Osogbo Railway Station where he would board train to his destination.  He bought his ticket and secured a seat and looked forward to train experience different from what he had read in his primary school books.

Oba Oyeyemi also recalled: “When the train gathered motion and departed the station, I knew there was no going back. I was observing the bush on both sides of the narrow track strangely moving backward at a fast speed. That experience surprised me because I was on train for the first time ever. But I enjoyed every minute in transit till we arrived at Iddo Terminus.”

Since 2017 when he ascended to the throne after he had relocated back to Nigeria from his Canada base, Oba Oyeyemi has changed the face of his town to the amazement of many who were familiar with the ancient town before his coronation. New set of visitors now frequent the town holding series of meetings with either Oba Oyeyemi or his Olori Agnes Oyeyemi, who has undoubtedly demonstrated high sense of compassion to the new status of her hubby.

Just last month, a group from Canada, was a guest of the royal family during which the group made some donations to the development of the town.Items such as clothings and others were donated after which Oba Oyeyemi expressed his gratitude to the philanthropic group and also encouraged them to continue on that track and spread their kindness to other places in need.

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“Although I am familiar with some members of NAYA because we were all together in Canada where I played a key role among the Yoruba residents in that country, I must say that the donations they have made added to their goodwill. If they decided to take the items to other places and exclude here, what would I have done? I appreciate them and wish them all the best in their endeavours,” he remarked.

The indiscriminate spread of the social media and its impact in socio-economic development of the world is alarming and additional proof that the world is just a unit. Aside the unlettered who cannot express themselves in the alphabetical, almost everybody is online savouring the seemingly unrestricted freedom it offers. From students to their teachers; civil servants, corporate personalities, clergies to traditional rulers, social media is a meeting point of sorts.

Oba Oyeyemi is not denying himself the opportunity as he operates and engages his facebook account, for instance, with updates in his palace among other things he does like sending greetings to his fellow monarchs and facebook friends.

However, he is not comfortable with the current the trend in which some faceless facebook users practice the criminalities in their system at the expense of genuine users. Oba Oyeyemi’s misgiving is informed by his taste of the injury which the internet fraudsters inflict on the innocent users of the social media.

“That trend is worrisome and something that should give everybody a concern. I was shocked when I realised that my facebook account had been compromised. Imagine these devils sending friend requests in my name. It is that bad. There is another sick and horrible prank taking place on Facebook again. In addition to inappropriate videos, there is apparently a new hacking between the comments of your friends that would include a hurtful phrase coming from you.

“It is usually dirty, and it appears as though you wrote it. Your friends see it, but you cannot. This situation can create a lot of misunderstanding.I would like to say to all my Facebook friends that if an uncomplimentary comment is credited to me, it definitely does not come from me. Calling my attention to it is a favour anyone can do to me in that circumstance. Honestly,  cybercrime is a serious crime which government should fight with all its strength,” he said.

It is of note that before Oba Oyeyemi entered the race to the throne, he had his eyes on a seat in the upper chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja. He was a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and warming up for pre-elections consultations. But fate had a different assignment for him. He received the call of his people and gave it a try. He successfully weathered the storm of contest, got the nod of kingmakers and that of Osun State Government under the then Governor Rauf Aregbesola. He was coronated in a well-attended ceremony that drew a large crowd to Oba-Ile.

Regardless of his traditional status, he is still politically sensitive monarch, hence his consistent calls to his people before the last Presidential and National Assembly elections on need to go out and exercise their freedom at polling centres and eschew violence during and after the elections. His prayers were answered and Oba-Ile recorded no case of misbehavior.

“Position of a traditional ruler is all encompassing. That is why politicians don’t leave he palace. They know we have that influence to mobilise the grass root. As I did during the last elections, I am also imploring the people of those states where elections will hold today to troop out massively to vote for candidates of their choice. We should always remember that it is our civic responsibility to vote in an election and we should not sell our vote for any amount of money.

“Our vote is our power to elect a candidate and we should never voluntarily submit ourselves to be treated with disdain.Nobody should engage in any form of violent behavior before, during and after voting, but it is our duty to ensure that our vote counts. May God allow candidates that will move Nigeria forward and improve lives of Nigerians to be victorious,” he appealed.

The Osun State Governor, Alhaji Isiaka Oyetola is gradually stabilising in his office after his swearing in at the tail end of 2018. Oba Oyeyemi is not easily carried away by early performance of administration. As a Ph.D holder, he believes he is in the best position to know better that early good performance is not enough in a four-year tenure. But he has a soft spot for the governor, especially for his unassuming mien in face of pressure of office.

“That he started off with fervent prayer endeared him to me the more. My experience in,life has shown the efficacy of prayer in human endeavours. For a governor who could have given an excuse to give prayer a priority means a lot to me. He has started well and I believe he would end well,” he said.